NEW YORK – A Dodge Ram ad that used a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., is drawing ire on social media.
Continue Reading Below
The ad shows people doing service-oriented tasks set against audio of King’s speech, which urges people to be “great” by serving the greater good rather than being successful. It was supposed to highlight Dodge volunteer program Ram Nation.
But it was criticized by viewers and ad experts alike for forging too tenuous a connection with the civil rights hero.
Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that it worked closely with the King estate on the ad.
The firm managing King’s intellectual property, Intellectual Properties Management, said in a statement that it approved the ad because it embodied King’s philosophy.
